Just as Worthy
by Lobo-Dechado
Summary: All that glitters is not gold. A relatively easy job takes a turn for the worse, which leaves the protagonist with just two options: Perish and be forgotten, or Withstand and make a name for himself.


Magistrate, Paladins. It didn't matter to me.

You see, for a guy who enjoys adventure and treasure hunting, such things as petty political conflicts seemed dull and boring.  
That possibly had to do with my idea of not exactly following traditions. Monotony just wasn't for me.

When a child, I remember following the elders' orders without much thought.

-You have to do that, whenever this does a thing  
-You must be like this, when interacting with that  
-You can write with these, when using those

School, basic stuff for our age.  
Math, Crafting, Social Studies, you name it.  
No such thing as straight A's, but I did manage to finish these studies… Just like everyone else, unsurprisingly.

Time came when we had to pick what to spend our time on, and live an honest life.  
Maybe get married, have descendants, and make them repeat the same cycle we were forced to do.

... Boring!

Since an adolescent, I clashed constantly with our old. Nagged and lectured about how this idea of going out there and see what the world had to offer, was nothing but a delusion, fueled by the common recklessness of my lack of experience as a youngster.

Whether it was fear of them being right, or just wanting to prove everyone I wasn't crazy. Remained at my birthplace until I was officially recognized as an adult.  
That was when things got exciting for me.  
No longer a junior, and still wishing for that fresh air after so long, the courage that had been accumulating within me, finally decided to bloom.

Made a quick and small bag with essential stuff such as food, and a few other… "Tools" that had been gathered prior.  
Well okay, I might have borrowed them… And could have forgotten to ask for permission to use them- Okay, listen, it ain't stealing if they don't know you took it in the first place. Can always return said devices at some point right?  
I'm sure they forgot about them by now.  
Possibly...

And so, my travels began!

* * *

Fast forward, as beginnings are always tedious.

My skills had reached all ears, which meant costumers were looking for me and mostly the services I had to offer.

You know the drill, getting contacted by a mysterious individual. Absolutely sketchy, but fear gets completely numbed when you've done this for as long as I have.

We had made an appointment to meet inside a hidden pub, that only those with bad fame were allowed to know the location.

I walked towards the usual table, the one back at the place. Always empty, as most of the "costumers" were too big to be able to accommodate in such a "small" table.  
The perks of being of low stature.

My height also helped me go unnoticed most of the times, didn't even need to be stealthy or fast, and I prided myself in them.  
That's fine, no need to steal the spotlight from these amateurs.

Seemed I had zoned out, as I was already sitting on _my area of work._ Probably done in automatic mode, as I did this often.  
So much for hating monotony… Ugh.

I leaned against the wall, and sighed. Closed my eyes and waited.

Even between all the loud activity, my ears detected familiar footsteps. And they stopped next to me.

"'ey, Willy. How you doing?" Not removing myself from the side, or looking at this friendly person. "I'll have the usual, if you please!"

But there was no response.

Bothered, I opened one eye, glancing at a tall man, dressed as a waitress; Because he was indeed the waitress of the place. He also wore silly glasses, I always thought they were funny. Once did the mistake of telling him that, it was pretty funny. As in… Funny for him, I got beaten up.

He only cleared his throat as I felt his eyes piercing me.

Sigh.

I reached my pocket, and flipped a coin at him, who caught it without even blinking.  
Forcing a smile, I closed my eyes again, and relaxed.

… Could still feel his presence though.

"…So?" Exhaled as loudly as I could.

"It might seem your favorite drink has ran out" Rubbing clean his lenses, he examined the coin "Such a shame, is it not"

I rolled my eyes and pouted. Put my hand inside the pouch, and threw some more coins, which were caught by him without any problem.

"Ah, but I believe a small reserve must be at the back" He chuckled as he stored the gold "I should check indeed"  
After obtaining what he wanted, he turned around, and walked, exaggerating the movement of the hips, towards the bar.  
Couldn't help but grin and move my head from side to side.

He was greedy, just like me.

 _William_ quickly came back with a big glass (At least big to me), and placed it at the table.

"Thanks..." As cold as I allowed myself to be

"Enjoy your…" Will made no effort to make his chortle subtle "Oh, so very strong drink"

I growled at him.

"Ah, seems it is time to take my leave. Farewell"

His snickering could still be heard as he strutted away. It was all in good fun these confrontations, made Willy's job a bit less stressful, as I wasn't known to be a client that caused too much trouble.

Grabbed my drink, with both hands, and sipped a little.

 _-Strong drink…-_ Those words echoed in my head.  
To be sincere, what I ordered had little to no alcohol, it even was considered a _"femenine"_ gulp. But who cares, I liked how it tasted...  
Besides I couldn't really get close to being tipsy, as my job had a lot to do with being extremely precise.

Speaking of which… Where was this contact of mine? I'm one to share a drink or two with the patron, but there was no sign of them.  
Hmm, must have run late. You never know with these shady people.

Took another sip, and another, and one after that.

Eventually my jar was empty, and trust me, these take me a while to finish as half the time I am struggling to pick the drink up.

Arms were now on the table, and my hand holding my face.  
What a waste of time.  
Huge of an inconvenience when these skill-seekers never show up.  
Just as I started getting up to leave, the doors were kicked open, extinguishing the fire out of the chandeliers. The room went dark, all the uproar stopped, as we all looked at a new figure who was making their way inside.

The atmosphere became tense, must admit even I felt a chill run down my spine…

Just as the cloaked creature stopped, now with the attention of everyone on them. They bent, as they became a mess of coughs and wheezes.

" ...Wooh!" The cloaked expressed, as it seemed their breath was back "Bit of a cold night, is it not? Sorry about the lights, wind is terrible!"

William was already igniting the candles back, removing all worry from the new visitor.  
Some, if not all, let out a loud and long groan as they sat back down again to continue their talks with the same volume before they were interrupted.

Pressed my hand on my face, and rubbed my forehead.  
This was the most exciting thing that happened tonight, and assuming that would be all, I grabbed my belongings and decided to leave-

Discreetly, I eyed the new one while I continued getting ready.

They were walking towards me.

Why are they heading this way.

Don't tell me this is my-

They stopped in front of me. "Excuse me, could you perhaps be the one I contacted?" By now I could see some of the feature of their face. Dry skin, prominent scales. Reptilian. Taller than me, by far. They didn't seem so big when they first entered.  
"One of my pals told me I would meet him at the smallest table at the corner"  
A toothy grin was drawn on their face.  
"And assuming you're the only one standing here- I mean, aside from me obviously" Teehee-ed before continuing "You must be him"

...Wonderful. It's going to be one of those weird and goofy jobs, isn't it?


End file.
